Albums

Several years after his last release, folk and blues artist Jason Steel returns with Studies Volume 1. This intimate 6-track collection was recorded live to a single microphone in East London, blending original songs with traditional arrangements. Rooted in folk and country blues, the album explores themes of memory and resistance, drawing inspiration from sources as diverse as Elizabeth Cotten, Cormac McCarthy, and Paul Klee.

Following the release of their bold and confident 2022 debut, Owen Spafford and Louis Campbell were ones to watch and their follow-up confirms this; “Tomorrow Held” is a beautifully constructed album that swings from calm and tranquil to the gnarly and abrupt. It is a considerable step forward for Spafford Campbell in terms of creative ideas; they have talent to spare and are not afraid to use it.

The latest edition of the Ceremonial Counties tape series from Folklore Tapes features Bristol and Hertfordshire. Musician and visual artist Jake Blanchard tackles Bristol, the first part likened to Faust and Steve Reich in a competitive morris dance. Side two features Geology Disco and is devoted to Hertfordshire. While little is known of Geology Disco, the future of New Weird Britain is in safe hands.

On Columbia Deluxe, Fuubutsushi sound simultaneously like a bunch of musicians who have never met and a group who have been playing together for an eternity. These tracks, in a live setting, have developed a life beyond the logistical constraints of their conception. Beautiful and increasingly complex, they have become a celebration of live performance and a reminder of how music still plays a vital role in human interaction.

When an illness stole her ability to sing, Chicago artist Gia Margaret turned to her synthesizer for comfort. The result was “Mia Gargaret,” her stunning 2020 ambient album. Weaving field recordings with immersive soundscapes, it’s a deeply personal document of self-healing and a powerful testament to the restorative nature of creating music.

Throughout Spider Towns, Will Hansen (Old Pup) finds profundity in the everyday, shrugging off the ephemeral and delivering delicate, melancholic hooks. The album captures moments of quiet absurdity, heartfelt earnestness, and pastoral mystique, leaving listeners entangled in its beautifully crafted web.

It feels like Mike Polizze has unlocked some doors with ‘Around Sound’. There is a tone that unites the whole record: a celestial, dreamy mirage of sound that shifts with the elements from bright sunshine heat to breezy clouds casting darker shadows. Where he travels next may be as hard to predict as ever, but if the results are as fine as this, then we must follow him.

The World Is But a Place of Survival: Begena Songs from Ethiopia is the latest compilation offering from the London-based record label Death Is Not The End, which delves into the deeply spiritual and rarely heard music of the begena, a large ten-stringed lyre intrinsic to the Amharic heritage of Ethiopia.

This month’s edition of the Ceremonial Counties tape series from Folklore Tapes features Essex and Rutland, two counties that share strong links to Britain’s Roman history. Laurel Morgan’s contribution, The Last Stand at Ambresbury, draws lines between the mythic Boudicca and modern ideas about landscape, ecology, feminism and rebellion, while guitarist and improviser Richard Chamberlain creates seven distinct pieces, each inspired by a different phase of Rutland’s history.

Grace Stewart-Skinner’s “Auchies Spikkin’ Auchie” is a remarkable debut. Its greatest strength lies in her fusion of the personal and the historical, where family heirlooms, such as poems from a beloved grandfather, become the foundation for a wider community archive. It not only preserves the Avochie dialect for future generations but also celebrates the spirit, humour, and resilience of the community that shaped it.

On fixe Idee, guitarist Eric Arn puts the mostly unadorned acoustic through its paces. Throughout this eclectic set, there are hints of early Robbie Basho, with a loose and free style of playing conjuring an image of carefree, sepia-toned summer life. It is the sound of an accomplished guitarist playing in his own style(s), and the result is excellent: singular, exciting and adventurous.

Celebrated traditional musicians Cormac Begley and Liam O’Connor release their new album this month, Into the Loam. Listen to the opening track “Ryan’s Rant”, which, like the album, creatively engages with tradition, seeking to forge something new. The traditional reel is offered as a tribute to the legendary Dublin fiddler Tommie Potts, who “continually pushed the boundaries of genre and expression.”